Happy 50th Anniversary Star Trek!

Fifty years ago the intrepid crew of the starship Enterprise embarked on a five year mission, and have been going strong ever since. I was a late bloomer to Star Trek fandom, although I did watch occasionally when I was a kid, it wasn't until I was 18 when my roommate and I had a nightly routine of watching that I became a fan. And I'm certainly not alone, as you can see by this small collection of MOCs from over the years. This is just the tip of the iceberg, do yourself a favor and boldly go Google "LEGO Star Trek", it's totally worth it. Live long and prosper Star Trek!

MOCStalgia - Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of "Hook"!

Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past. This month Hook celebrates its 25th Anniversary and easily can be described as one of the best movies to ever bless our eyes. If you don't know what I'm talking about then you either live under a pile of LEGO or have never owned a VHS. In recognition of this occasion we have dug into the Nerdly Vault and dusted off some good ones for you to feast your gaze upon:

Starting off with this micro by Rod Gillies of Neverland. Years later and still some very fun details like the itty bitty ship and waterfall. This creation is a great example of when a builder starts an idea and then puts it down several times before completing it. Rod describes this build as having started with the ship but it wasn't until months later that it all came together. 

Next up is a vignette by Angela Chung! Angela created full scenes for all characters from the Disney Collector Minifigure Series, which you can see here and here. Her Peter Pan and Hook scene has such fun details like the monkey in the crow's nest and Tick-Tock the Crocodile just below. 

Keith Reed built an amazing Never Never Land Amusement Park full of Peter Pan goodness. So many details packed tight but my favorite of course has to be the ship! (Whats with me and ships today?) I'm not much of a rollercoaster enthusiast, unless you count my days of Roller Coaster Tycoon, so this park does it just right for me. 

And now the man of the hour, the Captain himself. Builder Markus Rollbühler creates Hook in such a compromising position, which is such a fantastic representation of the character himself. Favorite details are the piece choices Markus makes for the collar, his belt buckle, moustache and of course those lace frills on the wrists. 

In my search for the ultimate Hook related creations I came across another fun build, although not specifically Peter Pan related its still lays within our theme. This one we really had to dig for, behind the cobwebs of the interwebs (haha, get it?) builder Barney Main created this Neverland Island with so many awesome details that I personally wouldn't mind being stranded on it. Barney uses white horns and yellow hands to create some of the detail around the water and sand. Cute little creatures like the crabs and seagull and (oh my goodness) the little ship! #shipcrazy

Well if this didn't make you want to watch Hook right now then we can't be friends. I'll just go watch it alone with my LEGO and remind myself THAT I NEVER WANT TO GROW UP! 

My. . .Preciouses!

Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past. . .  This time in Middle-earth!

"Splashes and splashes, precious!  That's a meaty mouthful!"  Thanks to Iain Heath (Ochre Jelly on Flikr) we have one of the finest recreations of Bilbo Baggins and the infamous Gollum I have ever seen. Iain never ceases to amaze with his outstanding characters built out of LEGO elements, and these two are no exception.  The shaping of Gollum is well executed, and I especially like the loincloth and eyes.  Bilbo's clothing is also represented so very well with simple elements!  For lack of a better word, every creation Iain produces always has character.  The posing and emotion he is able to capture is truly inspiring.  I hope to see more builds like this in the future!  Iain's Gollum creation is also briefly featured in the LEGO Brickumentary. 

There's Nothing Like Friendship

Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past...

Fellow friend and LUG-er Simon Liu was one of the first members of ToroLUG to welcome me into the group. Back then he was a shy nerd, and although not much has changed, he has been a great support for me in the LUG through all these years.One of the first MOCs that I noticed of Simon's was his section of FRIENDSHIP for the Fairview LEGO Store Community Window (oh the good ol' days). I pointed out the cool technique behind the back panels and called it “messy building” and later learned the term was “greebling”. The Friends theme was just released and with the up-roar of a new theme separating genders came some cool new pieces and colors too!

Some of my favorite details are the classic space logo with a purple ribbon at the end and the medical area with the red classic space guy on the examination table.

Simon is also the reason I got stuck into building a giant Unikitty, and then later four...so I guess thank you?

Burton Batmobile

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to Gotham. I somehow missed this awesome Burton Batmobile by Riskjockey last year, and it's time to correct that oversight. I've always been a big fan of this particular Batmobile. It's got flash, but not too much, it's got menace, but just enough to scare the bad guys, and it's got style.

A Blast From The Past

A long time ago in a City far far away I discovered SHIP's. Large Lego Space Ships more than 100 studs long. I was amazed by them, so many different shapes, colours and details. This one, the Centaur LL-72 by Chris Giddens has been a long time favourite. I felt inspired to go and try to build something like this. It has lovely clean lines, enough details to be convincing and maybe a touch of Star Wars about it (in a good way!) I still look back at the SHIP's (Suitably Huge Investment in Parts, I think someone once said) from this time, around 2008 with envious admiration. I did build some SHIP's once, I dropped one, scrapped a few and finally got one on display in 2014, a little late to the party!

"Open Fire. All Weapons. Dispatch War Rocket Ajax To Bring Back His Body"

"Flash, aaaaaaaaaaaa, Saviour of the Universe" When I emerged from my Dark Ages, one of the first things I discovered was Flickr. What a marvellous place, full of images of wondrous Lego creations. Such joy. Such inspiration. Looking back at some of the first things that I faved, I re-discovered this micro space Flash Gordon ship. I love the film and the camp, comic book imagery and this MOC by halfbeak from August 2012 captures the look perfectly. I had never really considered Micro Scale as a serious medium until this. "Flash, Flash, I love you. But we only have twenty four hours to save the Earth!"

Love

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, especially when we're feelin' the love. It's Valentine's day, and the first thing that popped in my head when thinking of what to post to celebrate it was this sculpture by Bill Ward from 2009, based on Robert Indiana's sculpture from 1970, so we're going deep nostalgia today. Happy Valentine's day everyone, hug someone you love!

Rough Week

It's been a rough week, first we lost the Goblin King, then Mayor Lenny Clotch and now professor Severus Snape. I'm not going to get too nostalgic here, just post some past builds. It's how we show our love in the AFOL community. Rest in peace David Bowie, David Margulies and Alan Rickman, you will be missed.

Castle In The Clouds

If Lando Calrissian was a wealthy aristocrat in fantasy medieval times, I like to think he lives in this lovely castle in the clouds by Lego_fan. He tried to keep the evil Lord Vader at bay, but that rogue Han Solo (to whom he lost his beloved flying horseless carriage fair and square) had to bring trouble to his doorstep. 

The Cutest AT-AT Ever

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to the icy plains of Hoth. As is usually the case these days, Star Wars is on my mind this morning. I glanced at the Microfighters AT-AT and thought about how much better it could be. Then I thought of this, the quintessential chibi AT-AT. This is by MacLane for the FBTB Chibi contest, which happened so long ago now I don't remember if I even entered. Wouldn't have mattered though, this baby won the second it was posted.

Boldly Going

I know it's less than a year old, but somehow I missed this in January and discovered (or maybe rediscovered, I was working crazy hours then and don't remember much) it this morning. Regardless my jaw hit the desk when I laid eyes on this beauty. And for all you SHIPtember builders, I'd like to point out this thing is about as wide as your SHIPs are long, and studless end to end, stunning. Check out this and many more sweet MOCs at Zmasterbrick's website (totally worth it).

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Back To School

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, even at the end of summer. This MOCstalgia is inspired by Mrs BrickNerd, with the suggestion of "back to school". It's funny how at the end of the school year both parents and students are really ready for summer. I think we're just ready to not struggle to wake kids, make lunches and deal with homework (and kids just don't want to be at school). But as welcome as that first day of summer is, it's not terribly long until glances at the calendar get far more frequent with groans of "I'm bored" and parent's patience with endless video game play wears thin. So to celebrate the return to school I present to you this classic by Polywen, Pack up kids, and get out of the damn house.

Walk/Don't Walk

On a recent trip to Vancouver my family and I were surprised how "jaunty" their traffic lights were. Just somehow more happy than the ones here in the US. But how much more fun would urban pedestrian activity be with cool traffic lights like this one from Legomichiiiiii? I'd much rather have a minifig tell me it's at least reasonably safe to venture into the street, wouldn't you?

The Pumpkin King

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to holiday worlds of old. This is some fantastic work by builder RedRoofArt. I am perhaps a bit biased, since I'm a huge Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton, Disney and LEGO fan, so there was pretty much no way I was gonna not like this. It's technically MOCstalgia, since it was built in 2013/14, but these are new pictures of this phenomenal MOC. Click through for more views, it's worth it.

Star Wars On My Mind

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, sometime a long, long time ago. It's a big week for me as a life-long Star Wars fan. I'm off to LA today to help a friend prepare for Star Wars Celebration and attending the first day on Thursday. I'm involved in a couple projects and events I can't publicly discuss (but they're AWESOME) And the digital versions of the movies just came out. So I thought I'd go a little retro with an old favorite of mine from SPARKART! I've always been a fan of Ralph McQuarrie's inspirational illustrations, and I love when they're brought to life with LEGO. This early R2 concept is excellent.

Mad Love

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to Gotham's darker places. Batman villains have been on my mind recently, so I thought I'd dig up an older favorite of mine. This comic cover inspired scene by Julius No features not only the caped crusader and and his nemesis Joker, but also one of the best LEGO representations of the most popular female character in the DC universe, Harley Quinn.

Boldly Going

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. I didn't intend to do two Star Trek posts in a row, especially since ST MOCs aren't all that common. But this showed up in my feed this morning, and it's been a while since I waxed nostalgic so here it is, the original crew of USS Enterprise by rionz.

Komodo

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to far off islands with mystical creatures. This quadruped dragon by Archinto shows just how advanced you can get with some serious Bionicle chops. The detail, contouring, pose and coloration on this MOC is top notch.

Clumsy And Random

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side”

— Han Solo

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, sometimes a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The Imperial blaster (Blastech E-11) is one of my all-time favorite fantasy weapons. When I was a kid I had a really cool toy one (back before they started making them wacky colors) and spent many hours vanquishing imaginary Imperials. This version by Remi Gagne is awesome, and what's even more awesomer is you can build your own with instructions here (caution, it's a big file). Blast on readers!